"Mos Eisley s.p.a.ceport," Ben said. "You will never find a more wretched hive of sc.u.m and villainy." Glancing at Luke, he added, "We must be cautious."

Ben and Luke got the droids onto the back of the landspeeder, and then the group resumed their journey.

Familiar with the route to Chalmun's Cantina on the far side of the city, Ben directed Luke through the dusty, busy streets of Mos Eisley s.p.a.ceport. Traffic consisted of not only landspeeders and swoop bikes but large quadrupeds, including dewbacks and long-necked ron-tos. While Ben was not surprised to see the wide variety of life-forms and transport that flowed past them, he realized with some amus.e.m.e.nt that Luke was trying hard not to gawk.

Approaching a congested intersection, Luke slowed the landspeeder to allow some pedestrians to pa.s.s. Suddenly, five white-armored stormtroopers emerged from the shadows of the buildings at the sides of the road. All carried blaster rifles. One stormtrooper - a squad leader with an orange pauldron over his right shoulder - waved at Luke, signaling him to pull over. Luke had driven straight into an Imperial checkpoint.

Ben noticed that the stormtroopers were looking at C-3PO and R2-D2, who were in plain view on the land-speeder's rear section. He glanced at Luke, who appeared extremely anxious as he clutched the speeder's steering wheel. Ben offered a rea.s.suring smile to the boy, and then looked up at the squad leader who now loomed beside Luke's side of the speeder.

Facing Luke, the squad leader said, "How long have you had these droids?"

"About three or four seasons," Luke blurted out.

Keeping his eyes on the squad leader, Ben grinned affably and said, "They're up for sale if you want them."

Behind Luke, C-3PO trembled.

The squad leader said, "Let me see your identifi-cation."

In a calm, controlled tone, Ben said, "You don't need to see his identification."

The squad leader turned to his fellow stormtroopers and said, "We don't need to see his identification."

Ben said, "These aren't the droids you're look-ing for."

"These aren't the droids we're looking for," the squad leader repeated to the others.

Luke glanced at Ben, who gave him a slight, know-ing nod. Ben returned his gaze to the squad leader and added, "He can go about his business."

The squad leader looked again to Luke and said, "You can go about your business."

"Move along," Ben said.

"Move along," echoed the squad leader, gesturing with his hand for Luke to proceed. "Move along."

Luke drove the landspeeder away from the check-point. Ben directed him along a curving street, and then they parked in front of Chalmun's Cantina. The moment the speeder stopped, a Jawa trotted over and ran his small hands over the vehicle's hood. C-3PO muttered, "I can't abide those Jawas. Disgusting creatures."

Ben and Luke climbed out of the landspeeder. "Go on, go on," Luke said as he shooed the Jawa away. While C-3PO helped R2-D2 off the back of the landspeeder, Luke turned to Ben. "I can't understand how we got by those troops. I thought we were dead."

"The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded."

Luke glanced at the cantina's run-down exterior. "Do you really think we're going to find a pilot here that'll take us to Alderaan?"

"Well, most of the best freighter pilots can be found here," Ben said. "Only watch your step. This place can be a little rough."

"I'm ready for anything," Luke said.

Ben led Luke and the droids into the cantina. Like many buildings in Mos Eisley, the cantina was essen-tially a hole in the ground that was covered by a domed roof. Its interior was dark, and the air was filled with thick smoke and fast music. Beyond the entry lobby, an arched doorway led to a short flight of mud-packed steps that descended into a crowded room. A disheveled, middle-aged man with hardened features stood behind the U-shaped bar that dominated the room's center, and the walls were lined by small booths that offered some slight possibility for private conversations. Most of the patrons were aliens, as were the Bith musicians who performed at the bandstand to the right of the bar.

While Luke stood gawking in the entry lobby with the droids behind him, Ben stepped down and made his way over to the bar, where he found a human s.p.a.cer with a drink already in his hand. "Excuse me, my friend," Ben said, "but I wonder if I might have a word with you."

The s.p.a.cer eyed Ben suspiciously and replied, "Well?"

Examining the design of the s.p.a.cer's pressure suit, Ben continued, "You're a Corellian s.p.a.cer, are you not?"

"What about it?"

"I'm in the market to charter a fast starship," Ben said, "and I've been told by those in the know that the Corellian vessels are among the very best."

"You heard right," the s.p.a.cer replied. "'Cept that Corellians aren't among; we are the best."

"Ah, splendid," Ben said, beaming. "And would you by any chance know of a starship that's available for hire?"

The s.p.a.cer's shoulders seemed to sag within his suit. "If you'd've come in here yesterday, you could've had mine, but now I'm committed to a charter. I raise ship tonight."

Ben grimaced. "A pity," he said. "Perhaps you could recommend someone else?"

"Well, there aren't too many other Corellians in port jus t now, and anybody else'd just be a second-rater." Scratching his chin while thinking, the s.p.a.cer said, "Let's see, now . . . Oh, yeah, there's the Falcon."

"Falcon?"

"The Millennium Falcon. Her skipper's Han Solo."

"And would this - Han Solo? - be available at present for a job? "

"Haw!" the s.p.a.cer laughed, nearly spilling his drink. "I'd be surprised if he wasn't. Han ain't been doing so well lately. He was around here a little while ago. In fact, his first mate, Chewbacca, he's . . . " The s.p.a.cer glanced to his left and continued, "He's right here."

Ben followed the s.p.a.cer's gaze to see a hulking, fur-covered alien who had moved up beside the bar. Chewbacca was a male Wookiee, about 2.25 meters tall. An ammunition bandolier was wrapped around the Wookiee's s.h.a.ggy torso, and a laser-firing bowcaster was slung over one arm. Ben smiled and thought, I haven't seen a Wookiee in a long time.

Chewbacca nodded at Ben. The s.p.a.cer stepped away from the bar so Ben could speak directly with the Wookiee.

Just then, Luke and C-3PO started down the steps from the lobby. A signal chimed behind them, and Ben heard the bartender bellow, "Hey, we don't serve their kind here!"

Luke replied, "What? "

"Your droids," the bartender said. "They'll have to wait outside. We don't want them here."

Ben watched as Luke dismissed C-3PO, who turned to exit the bar with R2-D2. a.s.sured that no harm had occurred, Ben returned his attention to the Wookiee while Luke moved to stand beside him at the bar. Facing Chewbacca, Ben said, "The Millennium Falcon, is that the name of your ship? I was told she's fast."

Chewbacca replied with a series of low barks and grunts. Fortunately, Ben understood enough of the Wookiee language to reply, "No, that will be more than satisfactory. I'm not looking for anything elaborate, Chewbacca, just quick pa.s.sage to Alderaan -"

Before Ben could finish, Luke's right shoulder b.u.mped into his side. He turned to see Luke face-to-face with a surly Aqualish, a tusked humanoid alien with bulbous black eyes. The Aqualish spat out combat-ively, "Negola dewaghi wooldugger?!?"

Luke looked away from the Aqualish, trying to ignore him. Ben watched as the Aqualish took a step back, allowing room for another thug to move in. Ben thought, Oh, bother.

The Aqualish's companion was a ghastly-looking man. The man's right eye was blinded and the flesh around it severely scarred. His nose looked as if it had an unfortunate encounter with a meat shredder. He tapped Luke's left shoulder - hard. Luke looked at the disfig-ured man, who gestured at the Aqualish before he leaned in close to Luke and snarled, "He doesn't like you."

Luke mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"I don't like you either," said the man. "You just watch yourself. We're wanted men. I have the death sentence on twelve systems."

Luke replied, "I'll be careful."

The man seized Luke's arm and snarled, "You'll be dead."

That's quite enough, Ben thought. Stepping away from Chewbacca, he moved behind Luke to face the disfigured man. Speaking calmly, Ben said, "This little one's not worth the effort. Come, let me get you something."

The disfigured man moved with alarming speed and strength, flinging Luke away from the bar. As Luke crashed into a nearby table, the man and the Aqualish reached for their blaster pistols.

"No blasters ! No blasters!" the bartender shouted too late as he dropped behind the bar and the band stopped playing.

Ben's hand darted to his belt and he drew his lightsaber. The blade ignited and swept past the blaster-wielding criminals. The disfigured man fell back against the bar, a deep slash across his chest. The Aqualish screamed and his right arm - severed at the elbow - fell to the floor, still clutching the blaster.

Everyone in the cantina was silent. The entire fight was over in less than five seconds. The only sound to be heard was the hum of Ben's lightsaber. He stood his ground, holding his lightsaber out from his body as he stared at his two defeated opponents. Then he glanced out across the room. If anyone else had been looking for a tight, the look in Ben's eyes was enough to discourage them.

Ben deactivated his lightsaber. Almost immediately, the band started playing again, and the patrons went back to their drinks and conversations. It was business again as usual in the Mos Eisley cantina.

Chewbacca followed Ben over to Luke, who remained sprawled on the floor. As Ben reached down to help Luke up, Luke said, "I'm all right,"

Ben nodded at the Wookiee and said to Luke, "Chewbacca here is first mate on a ship that might suit us."

Chewbacca moved off to briefly confer with his captain, then guided Ben and Luke around the bar to a booth that had a circular table with a cylindrical light at its center. The booth was against the wall opposite the band, so they would be able to converse without shout-ing. The booth also offered a clear view of the entry lobby. Chewbacca sat with his back to the wall so he could watch the entry. Ben and Luke sat with their backs to the bar and faced Chewbacca.

They were soon joined by a tall, lean man with dark hair. The man wore a white shirt with a black vest, pants, and boots. As the man moved past the table, Ben noticed he had a blaster pistol in a quick-draw holster against his right thigh.

The man sat down beside Chewbacca, pointed to himself and said, "Han Solo. I'm captain of the Millennium Falcon. Chewie here tells me you're look-ing for pa.s.sage to the Alderaan system."

"Yes, indeed," Ben said. "If it's a fast ship."

"Fast ship?" Han said, sounding offended. "You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon? "

Ben asked, "Should I have?"

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve pa.r.s.ecs!"

Ben was not impressed with such obvious misinfor-mation, and gave Han a look that said as much.

Han continued, "I've outrun Imperial starships, not the local bulk cruisers, mind you. I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now. She's fast enough for you, old man. What's the cargo?"

"Only pa.s.sengers," Ben said. "Myself, the boy, two droids, and no questions asked."

Han grinned broadly. "What is it? Some kind of local trouble?"

Ben said, "Let's just say we'd like to avoid any Imperial entanglements."

Narrowing his gaze on Ben, Han said, "Well, that's the real trick, isn't it? And it's going to cost you some-thing extra." His eyes flicked to Luke. "Ten thousand, all in advance."

"Ten thousand?" Luke gasped. "We could almost buy our own ship for that!"

Han raised his eyebrows. "But who's going to fly it, kid? You? "

"You bet I could," Luke said angrily. "I'm not such a bad pilot myself!" He looked to Ben and started to rise. "We don't have to sit here and listen -"

Ben touched Luke's arm, urging him to remain seated. Then Ben returned his gaze to Solo and said, "We can pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan."

Han did the math. "Seventeen, huh?"

Ben nodded.

Han thought about the offer for a few seconds, keep-ing his steely eyes locked on Ben. "Okay," Han said. "You guys got yourselves a ship. We'll leave as soon as you're ready. Docking Bay Ninety-four."

"Ninety-four," Ben repeated.

Han looked past Ben to the bar and said, "Looks like somebody's beginning to take an interest in your handiwork."

Ben glanced at Luke, who turned to look at the bar-tender. Ben heard the bartender mutter something, then the stormtrooper's digitized voice replied, "All right, we'll check it out."

Facing Ben, Han said, "I suggest the backdoor, gents. Right over there." He tilted head slightly in the direction of the door.

By the time the stormtroopers arrived at Han and Chewbacca's table, Ben and Luke were gone. Outside the cantina, Ben raised his hood to cover his head as they walked fast for where they'd parked the landspeeder. C-3P0 and R2-D2 stood beside the vehi-cle, waiting for them.

Ben considered Han's fee, then said to Luke, "You'll have to sell your speeder."

"That's okay," Luke said as they neared the droids. "I'm never coming back to this planet again."

INTERLUDE.

"Tell me something, Artoo," Luke said as he worked on the components for his new lightsaber. "Did you ever think we'd wind up back on Tatooine again?"

The astromech droid was standing on the other side of the living area inside Ben's hut, and responded to Luke's question with a scathing beep. Then R2-D2 opened a slot beneath his domed head and loudly ejected some sand that had found its way into his cylin-drical body.

"Yeah, that's how I feel, too," Luke replied. Although his life had changed dramatically in the past three years, and although he had a reason for returning to Tatooine, he still felt like something of a failure now, as if all his accomplishments had led him back to where he'd started from. He had sincerely believed on the day that he had left Tatooine on the Millennium Falcon with Ben that he would never set foot on the sand planet again.

In fact, after Luke had boarded the Millennium Falcon with Ben and the droids, he hadn't been sure whether he would ever set foot on any planet again. First, a squad of stormtroopers had tried to stop the Falcon from leaving its docking bay at Mos Eisley, and then, as the Falcon raced away from Tatooine, it had drawn fire from a blockade of Imperial Star Destroyers. Fortunately, Han Solo had managed to evade and escape the blockade by launching the incredibly durable Falcon into hypers.p.a.ce, But after the Falcon emerged from hypers.p.a.ce, Luke's group had immediately discovered that their destination, Alderaan, no longer existed. They were still pondering what could have caused the destruction of an entire planet when Solo began pursuit of a pa.s.sing Imperial TIE fighter, which had led them directly toward a moon-sized battle station. Luke had been genuinely frightened when he first saw the Death Star. And when the Falcon was captured by the Death Star's tractor beam, he had thought that they were all goners.

But Ben had remained calm as he quickly impro-vised a plan to infiltrate the battle station. He had instructed Han Solo to jettison some of the Falcon 's escape pods and make an entry in the ship's log, claim-ing in the entry that the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff. Then Ben had instructed Luke, Han, Chewbacca, and the droids to hide within the ship's sensor-proofed concealed compartments, which Han had previously used for smuggling.

After the tractor beam had deposited the Falcon into a Death Star hangar, Han and Chewbacca subdued a scanning crew and two stormtroopers. Luke and Han had then disguised themselves in the fallen stormtroop-ers' armor, which allowed the group to sneak into a nearby control room. Once inside, R2-D2 had accessed a computer outlet to gain data on how to shut down power to the tractor beam and allow the Falcon to escape.

Ben had insisted on going to the tractor-beam power coupling alone.

To this day, Luke wondered if Ben ever had any idea that he wouldn't be leaving the Death Star on the Millennium Falcon.

CHAPTER TWELVE.